Authors: Takafumi Sasaoka, Kenji Hirose, Toru Maekawa, Toshio Inui, & Shigeto Yamawaki（笹岡貴史，廣瀬健司，前川亮，乾敏郎，山脇成人）

Title: The anterior cingulate cortex is involved in intero-exteroceptive integration for spatial image transformation of the self-body.

Journal(書誌情報）:NeuroImage, 120634

doi : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120634

論文URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811924001290

Abstract: Spatial image transformation of the self-body is a fundamental function of visual perspective-taking. Recent research underscores the significance of intero-exteroceptive information integration to construct representations of our embodied self. This raises the intriguing hypothesis that interoceptive processing might be involved in the spatial image transformation of the self-body. To test this hypothesis, the present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain activity during an arm laterality judgment (ALJ) task. In this task, participants were tasked with discerning whether the outstretched arm of a human figure, viewed from the front or back, was the right or left hand. The reaction times for the ALJ task proved longer when the stimulus presented orientations of 0°, 90°, and 270° relative to the upright orientation, and when the front view was presented rather than the back view. Reflecting the increased reaction time, increased brain activity was manifested in a cluster centered on the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), suggesting that the activation reflects the involvement of an embodied simulation in ALJ. Furthermore, this cluster of brain activity exhibited overlap with regions where the difference in activation between the front and back views positively correlated with the participants’ interoceptive sensitivity, as assessed through the heartbeat discrimination task, within the pregenual ACC. These results suggest that the ACC plays an important role in integrating intero-exteroceptive cues to spatially transform the image of our self-body.

著者Contact先の email: tsasaoka[at]hiroshima-u.ac.jp（[at]を@に変更してください。）

日本語によるコメント（オプション，200-300字で）
自己身体イメージの心的回転を伴う課題を行っている参加者の脳活動をfMRIによって測定し，併せて心拍弁別課題という心拍知覚に基づく内受容感覚の個人差を調べる課題を行うことで，自己身体イメージ操作における内受容感覚の関与を検討した研究です．その結果，心拍弁別課題で調べた内受容感覚の感度とイメージ課題の成績が相関するとともに，前部帯状回の活動がそれらと関連していることが分かりました．以上の結果から，自己の身体イメージ操作において内受容感覚が重要な役割を果たしており，前部帯状回がその神経基盤となっていることが示唆されました．

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